The Jewish community has just completed 40 days of intensive self searching that began with the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul in mid-August and ended with the conclusion of Yom Kippur. This period was filled with a series of prayers focused on examining our lives and taking stock of the way we live, what we have achieved, what we want to achieve in the future, and how we will achieve it. It is a time of personal and family exploration and introspection as we build and strengthen our lives for the future. The same holds true for an organization, and given that we are beginning a new year it is appropriate to think about how organizations conduct self-studies to review their mission and how they implement their services in the community. Many organizations are affiliated with national … Continue Reading
Is Planned Giving Part of Your Agency’s Program?
(Part 1 of 2 commentaries) by Robert I. Evans & Avrum D. Lapin Fact: approximately 8% of all charitable giving in the U.S. in 2008 ($22.7 billion) came in the form of testamentary gifts, according to Giving USA. This represents significantly more than all giving by business/corporate sources and almost as much as foundations provided. Too many Jewish nonprofits are yet to recognize the importance of developing a formal planned giving program, through which donors can make significant gifts to support a host of purposes, ranging from programmatic issues to many different types of positions or even unrestricted endowments. We believe that no fundraising effort is complete today without a planned giving component. In saying this, we underscore that testamentary gifts come in many ways, ranging … Continue Reading
Paideia: Applications for 2010/11 Now Open
The application period for the 2010/2011 one-year Jewish Studies Program in Stockholm is now open. Qualified candidates will receive tuition free studies as well as a stipend meant to free them from work while attending the program. Paideia is a non-denominational institute of higher Jewish learning with an academic focus on textual sources. Dedicated to the revival of European Jewish culture, Paideia is also an applied institute enabling fellows to strengthen the Jewish voice in their home countries. Paideia scholarships offer a unique experience consisting of: Academic studies of Jewish text and culture in the beautiful city of Stockholm Text studies using the traditional Hevruta method of studying in pairs World renowned faculty Networking in an international and pluralistic … Continue Reading
Why Do Development Directors Dress Up?
Building a Culture of Philanthropy Within Your Organization by Barbara Maduell When development professionals want to learn about how to engage volunteer leadership and donors, there is a wealth of resources from which to choose, yet when it comes to getting fellow staff members more involved in development efforts where do you begin? Colleagues can often feel that any and all fundraising is your job, not theirs. How can you build buy-in among your co-workers to help them understand that you are all ambassadors for the organization? Whether you're a one-person shop or supervise a large staff, here are five tips for building greater understanding and buy-in among those stakeholders inside your organization: Get out, inside. Fundraisers know that time spent out of the office, face-to-face … Continue Reading
Oneline Fundraising: One Size Doesn’t Fit All
from NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network: The State of Online Fundraising The last three months of the year represent a critical time for the fundraising efforts of nonprofit organizations. Charities that have traditionally focused on offline fundraising have also learned in recent years the importance of online giving. In fact, the end of the calendar year is also a significant source of the funds raised online for nonprofits. ...The end-of-year online fundraising opportunity only underscores the importance of this channel as a giving source. Some nonprofits still struggle with developing a successful online fundraising program. And there are still some skeptics out there, those who say "wake me up when online fundraising is really really big." They probably said the same thing about … Continue Reading
A Communicator’s Al Chet
As Yom Kippur approaches, I start to create a mental list of my actions that have caused harm or pain to someone over the past year. I will quietly recite them during the Yom Kippur Al Chet prayer. During this exercise these past weeks, I became keenly aware that communication - or the lack of it - is often at the heart of my Al Chet confession. Whether it was my tone, my choice of words, my lack of responsiveness or my rush to say something and then get it wrong, failed communication is an important theme on my list. I wonder how many of these transgressions of communications we all share. Failure to get all the facts right. Failure to communicate clearly - using words that precisely convey a thought; with no insider jargon or verbosity. Failure to write concisely - to edit down to … Continue Reading
Being “One People”
excerpted from The strength to face each other by Natan Sharansky: There are two great Jewish communities on the face of this earth - Israeli Jewry and Diaspora Jewry. A bridge connects us - and however convenient it might seem to occasionally turn our back on this bridge, we must not do so. Each community must engage the other - and understand that our own, continued existence is bound up in the continued ability of the other community to flourish alongside us. For Jews living in the Diaspora, this means recognizing that San Francisco, San Paulo and San Diego are not self-sufficient Jewish oases; they orbit around a center, and that center is Israel. The more they recognize this, the more they are themselves enriched. It is no accident that, according to a recent study, Birthright … Continue Reading
Jehuda Reinharz: Movin’ On
from Boston.com: Brandeis president to step down Brandeis University president Jehuda Reinharz, after months of sharp criticism over his financial stewardship and plans to close the university’s renowned Rose Art Museum, announced yesterday that he will resign at the end of the academic year. The announcement, which caught many faculty and students off guard, signaled the end of a lengthy tenure that saw the Waltham university vaulted to greater national prominence. Reinharz, who became president in 1994, said he plans to head a major nonprofit group focused on issues facing the international Jewish community... image source: Brandeis University Here is the announcement along with the letters of resignation and acceptance: … Continue Reading
UJC Survey Shows Importance of Planned Giving
UJC/The Jewish Federations of North America has released a survey of Federation endowment development showing that foundations continue to record the strongest growth despite the economic downturn, reflecting the increasing significance of planned giving as part of overall Federation fundraising. The survey, drawn from responses by 60 communities, is the most comprehensive data available about endowment and foundation giving in the Jewish Federation system. This year's survey showed that in 2008, planned giving contributions totaled $1.4 billion - 58 percent of the $2.4 billion total contributed to Federations and foundations. Gifts to planned giving programs have grown at a compound rate of five percent over the past 10 years, resulting in planned gifts exceeding - and in some years even … Continue Reading
IDC Herzliya Alumni Raise over 1,000,000 NIS for Scholarships
Following the example of leading academic institutions around the world, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford and others, the Alumni Association at IDC Herzliya, has concluded a unique campaign, the first of its kind in Israel, under the title “A place in the heart", with the goal of raising 1,000,000 NIS from 8,000 IDC Herzliya Alumni to be donated as scholarships for IDC students in need. The campaign's goal was reached after eight months, four months ahead of plan. … Continue Reading
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